In class on Thursday, we discussed the three ways in which slaves attempted to gain recognition for being human, rather than simply slaves. The three ways we discussed slaves attempting to gain recognition as humans were: through owner’s benevolence, trying to look/act white, or through rebellion. We observed the “Am I Still Not a Man and a Brother” picture which displays the concept of slaves being granted humanhood through the benevolence of their owners; a submissive view of slaves. Secondly, the picture of the slave holding the Bible sitting in elegant clothing and mimicking the iconic pictures of George Washington. By publishing a picture like this, slaves are looking to gain their humanhood through mimicking the look of whites with signs of affluence. Holding the Bible was a sign that slaves began to educate themselves and find larger meaning for life through their divine rights. Lastly, we looked discussed the image of Toussaint Louverture, the Haitan slave revolt leader. This image showed the third way in which slaves looked to gain humanhood; fighting for their rights. Upon further thought after class, i believe that there is a relationship to draw between this discussion of slaves and the conversation we had earlier about the introduction of humanoids into society.
There are many ethical issues that can be discussed in the conversation of flooding society with robots that are indistinguishable from humans. After taking the slave conversation into account, i can only imagine that robots could take the same measures in trying to blend into the society. In order to be treated as humans and gain their human rights, perhaps they will attempt one if not all three of the aforementioned methods used by slaves. It is scary to imagine a world in which robots inhabit the earth and mimc the attitudes and looks of humans. It is assumed that many humans will not grant robots humanhood out of their benevolence, therefore, robots will be forced to gain their rights in other, more forceful, manners.
In the event that robots must resort to rebelling against the people (assuming they are not programmed with Asimov’s three laws) to gain their humanhood, massive destruction could be brought upon Earth and the human race. Having this knowledge, might it be in the best interest of the human race to develop the robots right away and grant them humanhood upon creating in order to avoid this delayed rebellion that could lead to massive destruction. Perhaps the inevitable presence of humanoids should be expedited, and they should be accepted in order to create peace amongst the species.